The Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Opiah has appealed to Bayelsa Lawmakers to give the compulsory education bill accelerated passage to help tackle the out-of-school children menance in the state.
Opiah made the appeal at a flag off ceremony of the National Campaign on out-of-school children in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
“The compulsory Education Bill is awaiting passage.
“The bill seeks to make it compulsory for every parent and guardian to send their children to school in order to rid Bayelsa state of out-of- school children and school dropouts.
“Under the bill, parents of children of school age between 6-18 years who are out-of-school will be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
According to him, 60 per cent of out-of-school children in Bayelsa state are girls .
The Minister said the federal government through the instrumentality of the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) was doing everything humanly possible to assist the states to strengthen basic education by confronting factors that deny children early education, including extreme proverty, ignorance and access to education among others.
He said that the sensitisation was designed to ensure massive enrolment of children in basic and primary schools and should be taken seriously by all stakeholders, adding that it was a moral and legal obligation,the discharge of which would guarantee the future of the children and by necessary implication, the nation.
Opiah commended successive administrations in Bayelsa state for the special attention accorded education, including the declaration of the state of emergency in the education sector in the state, the introduction of a free education policy at primary and secondary levels and the inauguration of the enrollment drive committee, all of which have led to a huge enrollment in schools in the state.
The Minister said no parent in Bayelsa state had any excuse to keep his child out-of-school anymore.
In his key note address, the Executive Governor of Bayelsa state, Sen. Douye Diri said education remained the first, second and third priorities of his administration even as he announced that there were 250,000 out-of-school in Bayelsa, particularly in the ruler areas.
Diri appealed to all Bayelsans to cooperate with his administration in the implementation of relevant laws on out-of-school children to help rid the state of the menace.
He revealed that relevant laws were already in place and what was required was for all hands to be on deck for its implementation.
He challenged the State Assembly to put in place a sound oversight mechanism to ensure that the relevant rules were implemented.
He charged Bayesans to see education beyond certificate acquisition with emphasis on skills acquisition.
